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^^^  (^  DEC   9    1954  ^ 

THE    CHURCH    R  E  C  O IMX,  •    <>^ 


SERMON 

PREACHED  IN  GRAFTON,  SONDAl  DECEMBER  21 1816; 


CONTAINING 


HISTORICAL  NOTICES 


aiongrtgatioual  €l)urcl) 


IN  SAID  TOWN. 


By  EDMUND  B.  WILLSON, 

Minister  of  the  Congregational  Church  and  Society. 


PUBLISHED    BY   REQUEST    OF   THE   SOCIETY. 


WORCESTER: 

PRINTED  AT  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ^GIS. 

1847. 


Grafton,  March  10,  1847. 

Rev.  E.  B.  Willson, 

Dear  Sir  : 

At  a  Icf^al  meeting  held  this  day,  of  the  Con- 
gregational Society,  the  undersigned  were  chosen  a  Committee  for  the 
purpose  of  requesting  a  copy  of  the  Sermon  preached  by  you,  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  Congregational  Church  and  Society  of  this  Town,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  having  it  printed. 

Respectfully,  your  Obedient  Servants, 
JOSEPH   BRUCE, 
H.  H.  W.  SIGOURNEY, 
SAMUEL  WOOD. 


Grafton,  March  12,  1847. 
Messrs.  Joseph  Bruce,  H.  H.  W.  Sigourney,  and  Sa..iuel  Wood, 
Gentlemen  : — 

I  have  your  note  requesting  a  Copy  of  the  Sermon 
which   I   lately   preached,  giving    the    history    of  the    Congregational 

Church  in  this  place. 

I  can  readily  understand  the  desire  of  the  Church  and  Society 
to  preserve  all  that  can  be  gathered  up  on  this  subject,  however  m- 
complete  or  drily  detailed. 

I  wiU  soon  place  a  copy  of  the  Sermon  at  your  disposal. 

With  much  respect,  yours, 

E.  B.  WILLSON. 


SERMON. 


MATT.  XIII :  81.  .  The  Kingdom  of  lleaYCQ  is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard  seed. 

It  was  on  the  28th  of  December,  1731,  Old  Style,  (correspond- 
ing to  the  8th  of  the  following  month  according  to  the  New  Style,) 
that  the  First  Congregational  Church  was  gathered  in  this  place. 
Only  a  few  days  therefore  are  wanting  to  bring  us  to  the  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteenth  anniversary  of  its  organization.  As  this  is  the 
last  Sabbath  of  the  year,  a  fit  time  to  turn  to  the  past  for  instruction, 
I  shall  take  this  opportunity  to  commemorate  the  planting  of  this 
church  by  giving  an  outline  of  its  history. 

Some  may  have  a  curiosity  to  learn  why  this  is  made  the  occasion 
for  a  commemorative  discourse,  since  it  is  more  usual  to  select  the 
end  of  a  century,  or  half  century,  as  the  most  appropriate  time  for 
such  historical  retrospections. 

It  would  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  doing  what  I  propose,  that  no 
time  is  unsuitable  for  paying  a  tribute  of  grateful  respect  to  the 
memory  of  the  men  of  pious  heart  who  laid  the  deepest  foundation 
of  our  Christian  institutions — that  no  time  is  too  late  nor  too  early 
to  be  taught  by  their  examples  and  experience.  Another  and  suffi- 
cient reason  is,  that  it  has  not  been  done,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  be- 
fore. But  that  which  has  most  influenced  me  to  attempt  it  is,  that 
I  have  recently  for  the  first  time  obtained  access  to  the  early  records 
of  this  church.  From  these  records  I  have  supposed  it  would  be 
interesting  to  you  to  hear,  as  they  have  been  for  several  years  with- 
held not  only  from  the  possession,  but  even  from  the  inspection,  of 
the  members  of  this  church,  to  whom  they  legally,  and,  as  I  con- 
ceive, rightfully  belong.*  I  have  therefore  endeavored  to  embody 
in  my  present  discourse,  such  important  facts  as  I  could  glean  from 
these  ancient  registers,  connecting  with  them  such  other  matter  as 


See  Appendix,  A. 


,  ( -i ) 

I  have  been  able  to  collect  from  other  sources,  as  might  serve  to 
illustrate  the  history  of  the  Church. 

A  history  of  the  first  Congregational  Church  in  this  place — known 
as  The  Congregational  Church — should  embrace  the  ecclesiastical 
history  of  the  town,  for  about  t,he  space  of  forty  years  from  the  time 
of  its  settlement.  For  nearly  that  length  of  time  this  was  the  only 
Church  in  the  town,  the  town  itself  being  the  only  religious  society 
or  parish.  It  was  about  the  year  1774,  that  a  second  Church  was 
formed,  composed  of  Baptists.*  Down  to  this  period  therefore,  the 
history  we  trace  is,  in  fact,  the  religious  history  of  the  town. 

But  our  ecclesiastical  record  of  the  olden  time  would  be  incom- 
plete, should  we  pass  without  notice  a  church  which  had  not  only 
been  planted  here  before  the  formation  of  this  church,  but  which  at 
so  early  a  period  had  had  its  growth  and  its  decline  also.  Indeed 
I  have  not  spoken  with  literal  exactness,  in  saying  that  this  was  the 
first  Congregational  Church  here  gathered.  More  than  sixty  years 
before  the  founding  of  this,  another  had  been  regularly  embodied, 
though  it  had  but  a  brief  existence.  It  was  composed  exclusively  of 
the  native  inhabitants  of  the  country,  and  was  the  second  of  the  In- 
dian churches  organized  by  the  Rev.  John  Eliot,  of  Roxbury,  and 
his  co-adjutors. 

It  was  about  the  year  1646,  and  when  he  was  about  forty-two 
years  of  age,  that  Eliot,  generally  known  as  '  the  Apostle  to  the 
Indians,'  conceived  the  purpose  of  civilizing  and  evangelizing  the 
natives  of  New-England.t  He  set  about  this  work  with  earnestness 
and  faith.  He  undertook  to  gather  them  into  permanent  settle- 
ments, to  teach  them  the  arts  of  domestic  life,  and  to  establish 
among  them  schools  and  churches.  The  first  church  of  the  kind 
was  formed  by  him  at  Natic  in  the  year  1660.  The  second  was 
formed  at  Hassanamesit,|  as  this  place  was  then  called,  in  the  sum- 


*  gee  Appendix,  B. 

t  Gookin,  1  Mass.  Hist.  Col.  I,  168. 

%  <  The  name  signLfieth,'  says  Gookin, '  a  place  of  small  stones.'  When  the  town 
was  afterwards  bought  by  English  proprietors,  it  went  by  the  name  of  Hassana- 
misco.  WheUier  the  change  of  termination  changed  its  signification  or  not,  we 
are  unable  to  say.  EUot,  in  his  '  Indian  Grammar  Begun,'  gives  '  hassun'  as  the 
Indian  word  for  stone,  and  adds  that  diminutives  are  formed  by  adding  '  fs  or  cmes ' 
to  the  primitive  iiouus,  givmg  '  hassuncmcs'  as  the  diminutive  of  hassun.  The  final 
syllable  may  have  contained  the  idea  of  place. 


(  '5  ) 

mer  of  the  year  1071.*     I  do  not  find  any  authority  which  states 
positively  that  Eliot  organized  this  church  in  person;  though  I  think 
there  can  scarcely  be  a  doubt  that  this  was  the  case.     He  must  have 
visited  this  place  many  times.     There  was  no  one  else  to  whom  he 
would  have  been  likely  to  entrust  so  important  a  business,  in  an  en- 
terprise which  devolved  almost  wholly  upon  himself.     What  seema 
conclusive  is,  that  he  wrote  a  circumstantial  account  of  the  gather- 
ing of  this  particular  church  to  the  Corporation  formed  in  London 
for  promoting  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians,  which  he  probably 
would  not  have  done,  if  he  had  not  himself  been  a  witness  of  it,  and 
instrumental  in  it.     It  is  not  known  that  this  account  was  ever  pub- 
lished, although  it  was  the  intention  of  the  writer  that  it  should  be.t 
In  a  letter  subsequently  written  by  Eliot,  in  which  he  refers  to  that 
account,  he  says  that  the  manner  of '  inchurching'  the  Indians  was 
'  the  same  (so  near  as  we  can)  that  is  practiced  in  gathering  church- 
es among  the  English.'     They  were  '  all  furnished  with  the  custom- 
ary officers,  saving  the  church  at  Natic,'  where  it  was  wisely  thought 
that  no  officers  were  needed,  so  long  as  John  Eliot  lived  to  be  their 
teacher  and  pastor.     The  Sacrament  was  administered  by  their  pas- 
tors  in  the  usual  form.     The  same  discipline  and  ordinances  were 
•    practiced  among  them,  as  in  the  English  Congregational  churches 
at  that  time.     Candidates  for  admission,  before  they  were  received, 
were  '  diligently  instructed  and  examined  both  publickly  and  pri- 
vately in  the  Catechism,  their  blameless  and  pious  conversation  was 
publickly  testified,  their  names  were  publickly  exposed  as  desireing 
to  make  confession  and  join  unto  the  church.'     They  and  their 
children,  '  if  not  upgrown,'  were  baptised.     If  the  children  were  up- 
grown,  they  made  their  own  confession,  and  were  baptised  on  their 
own  account.!     They  assembled  to  their  Sabbath  worship  '  twice 
a  day,  in  the  morning  and  afternoon,  at  the  sound  of  a  drum— for 
bells  they  yet  had  not.'     The  services  were  conducted  in  an  order 
very  similar  to  that  now  observed  in  most  of  our  Congregational 
churches.  They  began  with  '  solemn  and  affectionate  prayer,'  offered 
by  their  teacher.     After  a  short  pause,  a  chapter  was  read  out  of  the 
Old  or  New  Testament,  ei_ther  by  the  teacher  '  or  some  other  there- 


*  1  Mass.  Hist.  Col.  1, 185. 

t  Ibid  X,  124. 

t  Eliot's  Letter,  1  Mass.  Hist.  Col.  X,  121-5-C. 


(  G  ) 

unto  appointed.'  '  At  the  conclusion  thereof,  a  psalm  or  part  of  a 
psalm  was  appointed,  rehearsed,  and  solemnly  sung.  Then  the  min- 
ister catechised  and  prayed  before  his  sermon;  and  so  preached  from 
some  text  of  Scripture.  Then  concluded  with  prayer  and  a  psalm 
and  a  blessing  pronounced.'  When  in  their  houses  of  worship, '  the 
men-kind  sat  apart  by  themselves  and  the  women-kind  by  themselves, 
according  to  their  age,  quality  and  degree.'  Their  teachers  were 
generally  chosen  from  among  themselves,  '  of  the  most  pious  and 
able  men  among  them.'*  In  the  beginning  of  Eliot's  undertaking, 
before  he  had  qualified  some  of  the  natives  themselves  to  impart  re- 
ligious instruction,  and  while  as  yet  he  was  himself  their  principal 
teacher,  there  was  another  important  feature  in  their  meetings.  Af- 
ter he  had  prayed  and  preached  briefly, t  he  '  admitted  the  Indians 
to  propound  questions  touching  something  then  spoken,  or  some 
other  matter  in  religion  tending  to  their  illumination.'  And  this 
questioning  and  answering  formed  no  inconsiderable  or  uninterest- 
ing part  of  the  exercises,  for  we  are  told  by  the  historian,  that  '  di- 
vers of  them  had  a  faculty  to  frame  hard  and  difficult  questions.'! 
To  this  point,  however,  we  do  not  need  the  historian's  testimony, 
for  many  of  these  questions  have  been  preserved,  and  are  sufficient 
witnesses  to  their  possession  of  this  power.  We  find  them,  for  ex- 
ample, propounding  such  questions  as  these,  which  we  have  taken 
almost  at  random.  '  Why  did  not  God  give  all  men  good  hearts  that 
they  might  be  good  V  '  Why  doth  God  punish  in  hell  forever  V 
'  And  if  they  repent  in  hell,  why  will  not  God  let  them  out  again  V 
'  Why  did  not  God  kill  the  Devil,  that  made  all  men  so  bad,  God 
having  all  the  power?'  '  I  see  why  I  must  fear  hell  and  do  so  every 
day  ;  but  why  must  I  fear  God  V  '  In  wicked  dreams,  doth  the  soul 
sin?'  Hard,  we  have  no  doubt,  the  teacher  found  it  to  give  answers 
to  some  of  these  questions  satisfactory  to  the  inquirers ;  happy  in- 
deed if  he  could  answer  them  altogether  to  his  own  satisfaction. 

We  know  not  the  number  of  members  originally  collectfed  into 
this  church ;  but  three  years  after  its  organization,  it  was  said  to 
contain  about  sixteen  men  and  women  who  lived  in  the  town,  be- 


*  Gookin,  1  Mass.  Hist.  Col.  I,  183. 

t  This  brief  pieacliiug,  as  it  was  considered,  we  find  was  '  about  three  quarters 
of  an  hour.' 
if  1  Mass.  Hist.  Col.  T,  168,  9. 


( 7 ) 

sides  several  others  that  lived  in  oilier  places.  There  were  about 
thirty  baptised  persons  in  the  town,  all  the  inhabitants  being  compu- 
ted at  about  twelve  families  of  sixty  souls.  The  pastor  of  the  church 
at  that  time  was  one  Joseph  Tackuppawillin,  who  is  described  as  *  a 
pious  and  able  man,  and  apt  to  teach.'  His  father,  whose  name  was 
Naoas,  '  a  grave  and  sober  Christian,'  was  deacon  of  the  church, 
A  brother  of  the  pastor,  much  noted  as  an  assistant  of  Eliot  in 
printing  his  Indian  Bible,  and  who  was  called  James  the  Printer,  or 
James  Printer,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  understanding  the  art 
of  printing,  then  lived  in  the  town.  The  ruling  elder,  was  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  of  the  early  Indian  converts,  by  name  Piara- 
bow,  or  Piambohou.  A  sketch  of  a  sermon  or  exhortation  deliver- 
ed by  this  man,  before  he  became  an  officer  in  the  Hassanamesit 
Church,  is  extant.  It  was  delivered  on  a  Fast  Day  at  Natic  in  1658.* 
He  expounded  the  beatitudes  in  Matt,  v,  and  so  far  as  we  can  judo-e 
from  this  mere  outline  of  his  discourse,  he  was  a  man  of  intelligence, 
and  was  capable  of  interpreting  Scripture  with  a  very  good  under- 
standing of  its  spirit  and  meaning.  He  came  from  Natic  at  the 
gathering  of  this  church  to  be  its  ruling  elder,  and  when  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  town  were  dispersed  in  the  war  with  Philip,  he  return- 
ed to  Natic,  where  he  died.t  The  prospects  of  the  church  at  this 
time  (1674)  were  highly  encouraging.  They  had  a  meeting-house 
built  after  the  English  fashion.|  A  school  had  been  established, 
and  was  flourishing.  Natives  were  here  prepared  for  teaching  and 
preaching  Christianity.  Several  settlements  of  Chistianized  Indians 
in  the  neighborhood  had  been  already  provided  with  teachers  from 
this  place.  The  preachers  in  four  '  praying  towns  '  of  the  vicinity, 
it  is  said,  expressly  went  from  Hassanamesit,  where  they  were  prob- 
ably educated. §  Many  others,  without  doubt,  were  here  taught, 
who  became  missionaries  to  their  brethren. 

But  the  benevolent  hopes,  which  the  venerable  apostle  to  the  In- 
dians and  the  friends  who  had  joined  him  in  his  philanthropic  labors 

*  Eliot's  '  Epitomy '  of  the  different  discoux^es  on  that  occasion,  sent  to  the  Lon- 
don Corporation. 

1 1  Mass.  Hist.  Col.  IX,  198. 

1 1  can  find  no  tradition  as  to  the  place  where  this  house  stood. 

§  Chabanakongkomun,  now  Dudley, — Wabquisset,  in  Woodstock,  Ct. — Packa- 
■hoag,  partly  in  Worcester  and  partly  in  Auburn,— Waentug,  Uxbridge. 


(8  ) 

yvere  now  so  confidently  cherishing,  were  soon  to  be  blasted.  The 
war  between  Philip  and  the  English  colonists  broke  out  the  follow- 
ing year.  These  '  praying '  Indians  became  objects  of  jealousy  and 
suspicion  to  both  parties.  They  were  tampered  with  by  their  coun- 
trymen, and  suspected  and  oppressed  by  the  whites.  The  town  was 
broken  up  and  the  church  scattered.  The  worthy  Gookin,  the 
friend  and  helper  of  Eliot,  gives  us  a  melancholy  picture  of  the  suf- 
ferings and  aggravated  wrongs  heaped  upon  the  Christian  Indians, 
many  of  whom  were  not  ill-disposed  towards  the  white  settlers. 
Every  piece  of  mischief  that  was  done,  whose  author  was  not  known, 
was  ascribed  to  them.  Tackuppawillin,  the  Pastor,  suffered  exceed- 
ingly. He  was  at  first  drawn  or  driven  off  with  others  to  Philip's 
side,  though  he  went  reluctantly,  '  with  heavy  heart  and  weeping.' 
He  soon  after  mJjide  ari  attempt  to  escape  to  the  English.  In  the  at- 
tempt he  fell  into  the  hands  of  one  of  their  parties  prematurely,  and 
was  treated  by  them  with  great  barbarity.  They  robbed  him  of  ev- 
erything he  had,  even  to  a  pewter  drinking  cup  which  had  been 
given  him  by  Mr.  Eliot  to  use  in  administering  the  sacrament.  '  O, 
^ir,'  said  he,  when  Mr.  Eliot  came  to  see  him  in  Boston,  '  I  am 
greatly  distressed  this  day  on  every  side.  The  English  have  taken 
away  some  of  my  estate,  my  corn,  cattle,  plough,  cart,  chain  and 
other  goods.  The  enemy  Indians  have  also  taken  a  part  of  what  I 
had.  The  wicked  Indians  mock  and  scoff  at  me,  saying.  Now  what 
is  become  of  your  praying  to  God  V  The  Epglish  called  him  a  hypo- 
crite. His  family  had  been  driven  away  from  him  through  fear  of 
the  English.  It  seemed  indeed  true,  when  he  said  in  his  distress, 
that  he  had  '  nowhere  to  look  but  up  to  God  in  heaven  to  help  him.'* 
His  faith  in  the  Englishman's  God  did  not  fail  him,  however,  even 
when  Englishmen  themselves  became  his  enemies  and  oppressors. 
Who  could  have  been  surprised  at  the  apostacy,  if  it  had  failed  him  ? 
In  the  spring  of  1677,  the  war  being  ended,  some  of  the  Indians 
came  back  to  Hassanamesit.  '  But  not  long  after  they  withdrew 
from  thence,  and  gave  over  tending  their  corn  for  fear  of  the  Ma- 
quas.'t     There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  scattered  church 

*  Hist,  of  Christian  Indians  in  Transactions  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Soci- 
ety, Vol.  II,  p.  504,  &c. 

t  Ibid.  519.  In  1684,  there  was  no  regular  meeting  here  for  worship  on  the  Sab- 
bath.   1  M.  H.  Col.  Ill,  18St. 


( 9 ) 

was  ever  re-assembled  after  the  war.  We  find  in  lo98  that  five  fam- 
ilies had  returned, '  unto  whom  James  Prinler  [Printer]  stood  rela- 
ted as  teacher.'*  Mention  has  already  been  made  of  this  Printer, 
as  the  brother  of  the  pastor,  and  the  assistant  of  Eliot  in  printing 
his  Bible.  There  may  have  been  in  these  five  families  some  who 
had  before  been  members  of  the  church ;  and  the  Christian  ordi- 
nances may  have  been  kept  up  among  them.  But  if  the  church, 
as  such,  had  any  existence  after  its  unfortunate  dispersion,  we  know 
not  that  any  account  of  it  has  been  preserved. 

We  are  admonished  by  a  glance  at  the  wide  field  that  lies  before 
us  not  to  linger  for  remark.  Could  we  do  so,  we  should  find  a  fer- 
tile subject  in  the  character  and  efforts  of  that  distinguished  Christ- 
ian, who  with  so  large  a  measure  of  the  apostolic  spirit,  cheerfully 
resigned  every  pursuit  promising  preferment,  reputation,  or  ease, 
many  of  which  his  talents  and  learning  opened  to  him,  that  he  might 
at  the  expense  of  sacrifices,  exposure,  and  pains,  carry  the  gospel  to 
the  poor.  But  leaving  this  ancient  church,  the  foregoing  notice  of 
which  we  hope  will  not  be  deemed  out  of  place,  nor  irrelevant  to  our 
main  subject,  we  proceed  to  that  which  is  more  immediately  and 
especially  the  topic  of  the  occasion. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1728,  that  this  town,  then  called  Hassan- 
amisco,  was  purchased  of  the  Indians  by  forty  English  proprietors. 
The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  in  granting  these  proprietors 
leave  to  effect  the  purchase,  made  it  a  condition,  that  within  three 
years  they  should  build  a  meeting  house  and  school-house,  and  set- 
tle '  a  learned  orthodox  minister ;'  and  that  they  '  should  constantly 
maintain,  and  duly  support,  a  minister  and  school-master  among 
them  :' — all  this  to  be  done  without  charge  to  the  Indians,  though 
the  benefits  of  the  school  and  ministry  were  to  be  shared  by  them 
equally  with  the  whites. t 

The  purchase  of  the  town  was  made  on  the  19th  of  March,  1728. 
The  first  meeting  of  the  proprietors  was  held  in  Marlborough  on  the 
the  9th  of  April  following.  The  first  vote,  passed  after  they  had 
organized,  was  to  choose  a  committee  *  to  take  a  survey  of  the  Plan- 
tation of  Hassanamisco,     *     *     *     to  find  out  the  centre  plot  of 

*  Rawsoiiifc  Danforth's  account,  1  M.  II.  Col.  X,  131. 
t  Proprietors'  Record:^. 


(   10  ) 

the  Plantation.'  The  next  vote  was,  that '  the  meeting-house  should 
be  placed  and  set  up  at  or  upon  the  centre  of  the  said  Plantation,  in 
case  the  land  at  the  centre  be  accommodable ;  otherwise  at  the  near- 
est accommodable  place  to  the  centre.'  The  second  meeting  was 
held  here  at  the  house  of  Nehemiah  How,  on  the  19th  of  April. 
When  the  meeting  had  been  duly  organized,  it  was  voted  to  adjourn 
to  the  centre  of  the  land  to  fix  upon  a  spot  for  the  erection  of  the 
meeting-house.  Upon  viewing  the  place  said  to  be  the  centre,  it  was 
not  found  suitable  "for  the  purpose.  This  was  a  spot  lying  a  little  to 
the  south,  and  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  rods  easterly  from  where 
we  now  are,  and  where  the  land  probably  was  thought  to  be  too  low 
and  moist.  A  spot  of  ground  was  then  viewed  '  westerly  therefrom, 
upon  the  northerly  end  of  a  hill  called  by  the  Indians  Assawossa- 
chasuck.'  That  could  not  have  been  fiir  from  the  place  occupied  by 
this  house — a  little  to  the  west  and  south.  Still  another  place  was  af- 
terward viewed  and  finally  fixed  upon,  a  little  way  southward  of  this 
last.  That,  you  are  aware,  was  the  site  from  which  the  old  meet- 
ing-house was  removed  a  few  years  since.* 

Thus  we  see  these  grave  pioneers,  cherishing  the  same  religious 
zeal  which  characterized  the  primitive  colonists  of  New  England, 
making  it  their  first  care  to  provide  for  the  worship  of  God.  Their 
f^rst  vote  at  iheiv  first  meeting  relates  to  the  selection  of  a  proper 
situation  for  the  house  of  prayer.  Their  second  meeting  was  here 
in  the  very  wilderness  itself,  as  it  then  was,  whither  they  had  come 
to  consummate  this  vote.  We  seem  to  see  them  now,  a  little  com- 
pany of  less  than  half  a  hundred,  passing  about  among  the  tall  for- 
est trees,  which  stood  all  over  these  places  that  are  now  covered  with 
human  habitations.  They  are  asking  where  shall  be  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  a  Christian  temple,  before  yet  the  worshippers  are  come, 
whose  prayers  and  solemn  praise  are  to  consecrate  it.  Their  own 
dwellings  are  not  yet  to  be  seen.  The  stakes  are  not  set  to  mark 
the  places  where  they  are  soon  to  rise.  These  things  are  to  come 
after.  Their  Sabbath  home  first — their  week-day  tents  in  good 
time.     To-day  the  wants  of  the  soul — to-morrow  the  needs  of  the 

*  Proprietors'  Records.  This  meeting-house,  built  by  the  Proprietors,  still  stands 
on  the  western  line  of  the  Common.  It  was  removed  from  the  centre  of  the  Com- 
mon when  it  ceased  to  be  used  as  a  house  of  worship. 


( 11 ) 

body.  Just  one  month  from  the  day  on  which  the  '  Plantation'  was 
bought  of  the  Indians,  the  place  for  the  meeting-house  was  decided 
upon.  It  was  voted,  on  the  next  July,  to  have  a  meeting-house  built 
and  finished  at  or  before  November  1,  1730,  thus  allowing  nearly 
two  years  and  a  half  for  the  work.  Its  dimensions  were — length 
50  feet,  width  40  feet,  height  22  feet,  '  between  joynts.'* 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Proprietors  held  March  31,  1730,  it  was 
voted,  '  to  continue  the  preaching  of  the  Gosple  at  Hassanamisco;' 
from  which  it  appears,  that  they  had  begun  to  have  preaching  be- 
fore that  time.  Afterward  they  were  probably  supplied  constantly 
till  June  23,  1731  ;  when  a  Fast  was  appointed  for  the  first  Thurs- 
day of  the  following  September,  preparatory  to  calling  and  settling 
a  minister  among  them.  The  Fast  was  duly  kept  with  the  assistance 
of  '  some  reverend  elders,'  in  the  vicinity.  On  the  day  following, 
Mr.  Solomon  Prentice  of  Cambridge  was  called  to  be  their  minis- 
ter.t  It  was  at  first  voted  to  give  Mr.  Prentice  for  his  support, 
'  i\inety  pounds  of  passable  money,  or  bills  of  public  credit  as  money 
now  passes  from  man  to  man,  or  as  the  valuation  of  money  shall  be 
from  time  to  time,  or  as  said  money  rises  and  falls.'  At  a  subse- 
quent meeting  it  was  voted  to  add  ten  pounds  to  the  ninety.  Mr. 
Prentice  accepted  the  call,  and  the  29th  day  of  Dee.  1731,  was  ap- 
pointed for  his  ordination.  On  the  day  preceding,  Dec.  28th,  the 
church  was  formed. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  persons  then  gathered  into  a 
church,  with  the  places  from  which  they  came,  and  in  which  most 
of  them  had  been  previously  connected  with  churches.  Three, 
ReVi  Solomon  Prentice,  Samuel  Cooper  and  Benjamin  Goddard, 
were  from  Cambridge;  one,  Capt.  Benjamin  Willard,  from  Fra- 
mingham  ;  two,  James  Whipple,  Sen.  and  Jr.,  from  Ipswich  Ham- 


*  The  tract  purchased  of  the  Indians  was  four  miles  square.  It  is  now,  per- 
haps, by  additions  from  other  towns,  about  four  miles  by  five.  This  territory,  then 
not  only  without  church,  but  almost  without  white  inhabitant,  has  now  a  popula- 
tion, as  recently  ascertained,  of  about  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
five,  and  has  seven  houses  of  worship,  viz  :  two  Congregational,  two  Baptist,  two 
Methodist,  and  one  Free  Will  Baptist. 

t  Mr.  Prentice,  it  thus  appears,  was  elected  and  invited  by  the  Proprietors  alone. 
No  church  had  yet  been  formed.  We  see  therefore  that  it  was  not  deemed  essen- 
;ial,  in  settling  a  minister,  that  he  should  be  called  by  a  cluirch  separately  from  the 
tpwn  or  parish. 


(  12  ) 

let;  two,  Tliomas  Pratt  and  Thomas  Drury,  from  Shrewsbury; 
three,  James  Lei  and,  Joseph  and  Simeon  Willard,  from  Sutton  ; 
one,  Nehemiah  Howe,  from  Sudbury ;  three,  John  Collar,  Jonathan 
Hall  and  Jason  Whitney,  from  Stow  ;  two,  Abner  Stow  and  Ephra- 
im  Brigham,  from  Marlborough ;  one,  James  Cutler,  from  Westbo- 
rough  ;  one,  Eleazer  Flegg,  [Flagg,]  from  Concord  ;  and  one,  Sam- 
uel Warren,  from  Weston  ; — in  all  twenty.  These  names  stand 
subscribed  to  the  original  covenant.  We  recognize  no  great  names 
here,  at  least  none  which  the  world  has  agreed  to  call  great.  But 
let  not  '  Grandeur  hear  with  a  disdainful  smile.'  There  are  good 
names  here,  names,  which,  though  not  to  be  found  upon  the  Scroll 
of  Fame,  are  written  upon  a  brighter  page  in  the  Book  of  Life ; 
names  they  are  of  no  mean  account  in  that  kingdom,  whose  least 
citizen  is  greater  than  earth's  most  illustrious  potentate. 

The  Covenant  which  they  adopted  is  as  follows  : 

'  We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  inhabitants  of  Has- 
sanamisco,  in  New  England,  knowing  that  we  are  very  prone  to 
offend  God,  the  Most  High,  both  in  heart  and  life,  through  the  pre- 
valency  of  sin  that  dwelleth  within  us,  and  the  manifold  temptations 
from  without  us,  for  which  we  have  great  reason  to  be  unfeignedly 
humble  before  him  from  day  to  day, — Do,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  with  dependence  upon  the  gracious  assistance  of  his 
Holy  Spirit,  solemnly  enter  into  a  covenant  with  God,  and  one  with 
another,  according  to  God,  as  follows  ; — 

*  First.  That  having  chosen  and  taken  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  be 
our  God,  we  will  fear  him,  cleave  to  him  in  love,  and  serve  him  in 
truth,  with  all  our  hearts,  giving  up  ourselves  to  him  to  be  his  peo- 
ple, in  all  things,  to  be  at  his  direction  and  sovereign  disposal,  that 
we  may  have  and  hold  communion  with  him  as  members  of  Christ's 
mystical  body,  according  to  his  revealed  will,  to  our  lives'  end. 

'  Secondly.  We  also  bind  ourselves  to  bring  up  our  children  and 
servants  in  the  knowledge  and  fear  of  God,  by  his  instructions  ac- 
cording to  our  best  abilities,  and  in  special  by  the  use  of  Orthodox 
Oatechism[s],  that  the  true  religion  may  be  maintained  in  our  fam- 
ilies while  we  live  ;  yea,  and  among  such  as  shall  live  when  we  are 
dead  and  gone. 

'  Thirdly.  We  furthermore  promise  to  keep  close  to  the  truth  of 
Christ,  endeavoring  with  lively  affection  towards  it  in  our  hearts,  to 


( 1=^ ) 

defend  it  against  all  opposers  tliercof,  aw  God  shall  call  us  at  any 
time  thereunto;  which,  that  we  may  do,  we  resolve  to  use  the  Holy 
Scriptures  as  our  Platform  whereby  we  may  discern  the  mind  and 
will  of  Christ,  and  not  the  new-found  inventions  of  men. 

'  Fourthly.  We  also  engage  ourselves  to  have  a  careful  inspection 
over  our  own  hearts,  so  as  to  endeavor,  by  virtue  of  the  death  of 
Christ,  the  mortification  of  all  our  sinful  passions,  worldly  frames, 
and  disorderly  affections,  whereby  we  may  be  withdrawn  from  the 
living  God. 

*  Fifthly.  We  moreover  oblige  ourselves,  in  the  faithful  improve- 
ment of  all  our  abilities  and  opportunities,  to  worship  God  accord- 
ing to  the  particular  institutions  of  Christ  for  his  church  under  Gos- 
pel administrations ;  as  to  give  reverend  attention  to  the  word  of 
God,  to  pray  unto  him,  to  sing  his  praises,  and  to  hold  communion 
one  with  another,  in  the  use  of  both  the  seals,  viz  ;  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper. 

'  Sixthly.  We  likewise  promise,  that  we  will  peaceably  submit 
unto  the  holy  discipline  appointed  by  Christ  in  his  church  for  of- 
fenders, obeying  them  that  rule  over  us  in  the  Lord. 

'  Seventhly.  We  also  bind  ourselves  to  walk  in  love  one  toward 
another,  endeavoring  our  mutual  editication,  visiting,  exhorting, 
comforting  as  occasion  serveth,  and  warning  any  brother  or  sister 
which  offends,  not  divulging  private  offences  irregularly,  but  heed- 
fully  following  the  several  precepts  laid  down  by  Christ  for  church 
dealing,  18th  Matt.  16,  17,  18,  willingly  forgiving  all  that  manifest 
unto  the  judgment  of  charity  that  they  truly  repent  of  all  their 
mismanagements. 

*  Now  the  God  of  peace,  which  brought  again  from  the  dead  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of 
the  everlasting  covenant,  make  us  all  perfect  in  every  good  work  to 
do  his  will,  working  in  us  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in  his  sight, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  be  glory  forever  and  ever.' 

This  Covenant,  you  perceive,  is  liberal  and  unsectarian.  In  this 
respect  it  resembled  those  generally  used  in  the  early  Congrega- 
tional churches  of  the  country.  This  very  Covenant,  indeed,  was 
adopted  by  several  other  churches  in  the  vicinity  afterwards,  and 
probably  had  been  in  use  elsewhere  before  it  was  submitted  to  this 


(in 

Church.*  It  was  undoubtedly  the  covenant  of  a  church  whose 
members  were,  in  most  or  all  points,  Calvinistic  in  sentiment.  But 
it  was  not  framed  with  the  view  to  prevent  them  from  ever  depart- 
ing from  that  doctrinal  system.  It  placed  no  fetters  upon  the  mind, 
to  bind  it  forever  to  one  man's  interpretation  of  Christian  truth. 
However  firmly  one  or  another  doctrine  of  Calvinism  may  have  been 
held,  or  however  highly  valued,  it  was  not  deemed  necessary  to 
force  it  upon  all  men  as  an  unquestionable  and  essential  part  of 
Christianity,  nor  to  make  its  acceptance  a  test  by  which  to  try  the 
soundness  of  Christian  character  to  the  end  of  time.  It  was  not 
then  thought  improbable  that  there  might  be  more  light  to  come 
from  the  Scripture  pages  than  men  had  yet  seen ;  and  so  men  were 
left  to  see  what  they  could  see,  while  they  covenanted  to  help  each 
other  as  they  might,  in  the  one  great  solemn  interest  of  life,  that  of 
sober,  righteous  and  godly  living.  They  accounted  themselves  or- 
thodox, to  be  sure,  and  their  orthodoxy  was  Calvinism,  or  something 
like  it.  But  the  orthodoxy  of  general  consent  is  no  fixed,  unchange- 
able thing.  The  orthodoxy  of  the  Congregational  churches  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, to-day,  is  not  that  of  a  hundred  years  ago.  This  is  some- 
thing which  changes  with  the  generations.  That  which  this  age 
determines  shall  be  heresy,  may  be  voted  orthodox  by  the  next ; 
while  the  present  orthodoxy  may  be  pronounced  heterodox  by  the 
same  authority.  To  know  how  much  or  little  is  implied  in  calling 
an  opinion  or  a  man  orthodox,  we  must  consider  where,  when,  and 
by  whom  the  term  is  used. 

The  ordination  of  Mr.  Prentice,  as  has  been  observed,  took  place 
the  day  after  the  formation  of  the  Church.  The  Pastor  elect  was 
a  native  of  Cambridge,!  where  he  was  educated,  having  been  grad- 


*  It  was  adopted  by  the  First  Church  in  Sterling  iu  1744,  and  by  the  Northboro' 
Church  in  1746,  as  we  learn  from  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  Centennial  Discourse  ;  and  by 
the  First  Church  in  Worcester,  with  some  slight  modifications,  making  it  more 
doctrinal,  in  1746,  as  we  learn  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  History  of  Worcester.  Mr.  LiiT- 
coln,  in  his  excellent  work  (p.  171),  seems  to  attribute  the  authorship  of  it  to  Rev. 
Messrs.  Campbell  of  Oxford,  and  Stone  of  Soutliboro',  on  the  authority  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Maccarly.  These  gentlemen  probably  brought  it  forward  for  the  acceptance 
of  that  Church,  but  could  hardly  have  originated  it,  as  it  had  been  long  in  use  be- 
fore that  time. 

t  He  was  the  son  of  Solomon  Prentice,  Jiud  was  born  May  lltli,  1705.  Camb. 
Town  Records. 


( 15 ) 

uated  at  Harvard  College  in  the  year  l'r27.  Testimonials  of  liis 
qualifications  for  the  ministry  are  among  the  Proprietors'  Records, 
signed  by  Messrs.  Trowbridge  of  Groton,  Appleton  of  Cambridge, 
and  Parkman  of  Westborough.  Rev.  Mr.  Parkman  introduced  the 
Ordination  services  with  prayer ;  Rev.  Mr.  Appleton  preached ; 
Rev.  Mr.  Swift  of  Framingham  made  the  Ordaining  prayer ;  Rev. 
Mr.  Trowbridge  joined  in  Laying  on  of  Hands,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Lor- 
ingof  Sudbury  gave  the  Right  hand  of  Fellowship. 

James  Whipple  and  Samuel  Cooper  were  chosen  Deacons  on  the 
21st  January,  1732,  '  by  a  very  great  majority.' 

The  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  for  the 
first  time  April  9th,  1732. 

No  provision  seems  to  have  been  made  for  supplying  the  Com- 
munion Table  with  suitable  furniture,  till  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1734,  when  £8  4s.  were  raised  for  the  purpose  from  the  following 
sources  :  Five  of  the  Proprietors  living  out  of  Town  contributed  £1 
7s.  6d. ;  the  congregation  contributed  £2  6s.  6d. ;  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Flynt,  of  Harvard  College,  gave  £1  10s.*  and  the  Church  itself 
contributed  c£3.  Dea.  James  Whipple,  Eleazer  Fletcher  and  Silas 
Warren,  at  different  times  afterwards,  presented  vessels  to  the 
Church  for  their  use  in  the  ordinances. 

The  congregation  were  not  then  permitted  to  choose  their  own 
seats  in  the  meeting-house,  nor  to  become  permanent  proprietors  of 
any  particular  accommodation  in  it.  A  Committee  was  chosen  from 
time  to  time,  to  assign  seats  to  the  worshippers, '  according  to  estate 
and  age.'  This  assignment  of  seats  was  called  '  seating  the  meeting- 
house.' The  Indians  being  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  the 
other  inhabitants  in  regard  to  public  worship,  were  consulted  as  to 
their  choice  of  seats,  and  were  finally  appointed  to  sit  on  either  side 
of  the  front  door  against  the  walls  of  the  house,  the  men  on  one 
side  and  the  women  on  the  other. 

The  connection  between  Mr.  Prentice  and  his  people  was  one  of 
uninterrupted  harmony  for  several  years.  The  men  of  those  days 
were  men  of  prayer,  who  cheerfully  maintained  the  institutions  of 
Christianity,  murmuring  at  no  sacrifices  which  were  necessary  to 

*  For  an  interesting  account  of  this  early  benefactor  of  the  Church,  see  Pierce's 
History  of  Harvard  College,  260-264. 


( 1^ ) 

secure  the  ministrations  of  the  word  of  God.  They  were  a  people 
of  few  wants  and  simple  habits.  Their  ministers,  like  themselves, 
lived  frugally,  and  usually  shared  with  them  to  greater  or  less  extent 
in  the  labors  of  husbandry.  If  there  is  truth  in  the  lines  of  the  old 
poet,  they  were  abundantly  blessed,  scanty  as  were  their  worldly  en- 
dowments : 

'  For  gold  and  grace  did  never  yet  agree  ; 
E,eligion  always  sides  with  poverty.' 

An  anecdote,  which  tradition  has  preserved,  gives  us  a  vivid  pic- 
ture of  the  wildness  of  the  country  at  this  period.  Mr.  Prentice,  it 
is  said,  proceeding  to  meeting  on  a  Sunday  morning,  observed  a 
bear  ranging  among  the  boughs  of  a  chestnut  tree  not  far  from  the 
meeting  house.  Probably  thinking  it  hardly  prudent  to  leave  him 
to  go  at  large,  while  the  congregation  were  occupied  in  worship,  he 
returned  to  his  house,  and  taking  his  gun,  brought  down  the  un- 
welcome intruder  from  his  retreat ;  after  which  he  again  took  his 
way  to  the  Church,  where  he  undoubtedly  led  the  devotions  of  the 
assembly  with  more  concentration  and  fervor  of  mind  than  he  could 
have  commanded,  if  he  had  suffered  the  wild  beast  to  roam  through 
the  neighborhood  in  freedom.* 

No  events  of  particular  importance  in  the  history  of  the  Church, 
are  to  be  noticed  for  about  ten  years  after  the  settlement  of  the  first 
minister.  It  was  about  the  year  1740,  that  the  memorable  and  wide 
spread  religious  excitement  of  the  last  century  began  to  be  strongly 
felt  here.  It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  that  year  that  Whitefield  arri- 
ved in  Boston.  '  The  churches  throughout  the  land  were  thrown  into 
a  state  of  intense  agitation.  Rev.  Mr.  Prentice  was  one  who  de- 
cidedly favored  the  movement,  and  encouraged  the  measures  of  the' 
itinerant  preachers,  whom  he  invited  freely  into  his  pulpit.  He  be-' 
came  what  was  termed  at  that  time  a  '  New  Light,'  a  title,  the  origin 
and  precise  significance  of  which  we  are  not  sure  that  we  know ; 
but  we  have  supposed  that  it  referred  to  that  inner  light  or  percep- 
tion, which  some  of  the  more  extravagant  of  the  revivalists  claimed 
to  possess,  and  to  the  guidance  of  which  they  trusted  with  scarcely 
less  confidence  than  to  the  light  of  Scripture. |     Whitefield  is  s^id' 

*  See  Appendix,  C. 

t  Many  who  were  then  known  as  belonging  to  the  '  New  Light '  party,  after- 
wards, wc  are  told,  went  to  make  up  a  set  of  strange  fanatics  called  '  Live-for- 


( 17 ) 

to  have  preached  here  one  or  more  times,  though  not,  as  we  can 
learn,  with  any  very  extraordinary  effect.  On  the  16th  of  May, 
1742,  Rev.  Philemon  Robbins  of  Branford,  Conn.,  a  man  who  was 
actively  engaged,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  in  promoting  the  ex- 
citement, preached  here,  when  twenty  or  more  persons  are  report- 
ed to  have  fallen  down  with  distress  and  anguish.*  Ezekiel  Coal 
(or  Cole),  a  member  of  this  Church  and  an  Indian,  Solomon  Paine, 
Elihu  Marsh,  and  others,  who  had  begn  ordained  as  lay  preachers  or 
.exhorters,  also  came  among  the  people  at  this  period  and  preached. 

The  course  of  the  Pastor  was  not  approved  by  all  the  Church. 
By  the  beginning  of  the  year  1743,  a  disaffection  had  sprung  up 
which  continued  to  work  till  it  resulted  in  Mr.  Prentice's  dismis- 
sion. Seven  members  at  first  withdrew  from  the  communion.t 
This  led  to  discipline  and  discord.  Meetings  of  the  Church  were 
held  without  effect.  Council  upon  council  was  called  with  no  bet- 
ter results.  Neither  party  were  satisfied  u^r  conciliated.  After 
many  difficulties  which  we  have  neither  the  time  nor  inclination  to 
detail,  a  council  was  at  last  agreed  on,  which  met  on  the  2d  of 
October,  1744.  It  closed  its  session  on  the  11th.  The  'Result' 
was  printed  by  the  aggrieved  brethren,  a  circumstance  which  shows 
that  it  was  regarded  as  rather  favorable  to  themselves  than  to  their 
pastor.  It  is  an  interesting  document,  as  showing  some  of  the 
extravagances  into  which  even  sincere  and  well-meaning  Christians 
are  liable  to  fall  in  seasons  of  high  excitement,  when  the  passions 
over-ride  the  reason,  and  as  illustrating  some  of  the  peculiar  ab- 
surdities which  were  not  rare  at  that  period.  It  shows  also  that 
Mr.  Prentice  had  gone  so  far  as  to  lose,  in  a  measure  at  least,  the 
confidence  of  his  ministerial  brethren  of  the  neighborhood,  as  a 
prudent  and  discreet  minister. 

Among  the  doctrines  which  he  was  charged  with  preaching,  were 

evers,'  who  had  theiv  head  quarters  hereabouts,  and  professed  to  beheve  that  they 
should  Uve  an  endless  life  ou  earth.  After  this  bubble  of  delusion  burst,  the  same 
elements,  as  was  natural,  entered  into  a  third  combination,  and  flourished  for  a 
while  as  Shakers. 

*liev.  Mr.  Parkman's  Journal,  in  Tracy's  'Great  Awakening,'  p.  207. 

t  These  seven  were  Thomas  Axtell,  Thomas  Drury,  John  Ward,  Aaron  Hardy, 
Israel  Stevens,  Jason  Whitney  and  Simon  Tai'utor.  It  appears  before  the  9th  of 
January,  1743,  '  they  had  for  some  time  withdrawn  from  the  comnrunion.'  Some 
of  them  afterwards  went  so  far  as  to  sign  another  covenant. 

3 


(  18  ) 

such  as  these :— that  we  '  are  to  love  none  but  such  as  are  savingly 
converted  ;'— that  the  '  life  and  practice  are  the  negative  part '  of 
Christianity ;— that  a  converted  man  might  know  others,  whether 
they  were  converted  or  not,  by  conversing  with  them  ;-that  he 
might  in  fact,  '  give  a  near  guess,  if  they  held  their  tongues.'  Ihe 
council  judged  that  he  had  gone  too  far  in   his  language  on  these 

points.  .   .  , , 

Another  charge  was,  that  he  had  said  that  '  some  ministers  would 
advise  some  persons  in  distress  to  prayer,  which  he  said  was  abom- 
inable.' Referring  to  the  remark  of  another,  'that  prayer  is  as 
fatal  to  the  soul  as  rats-bane  is  to  the  body,'  he  was  said  to  have 
added,  'I  leave  that,  but  I  say  it  is  abominable!  abominable. 
This  doctrine  the  council  pronounced   unsound   and  of  dangerous 

tendency. 

Another  charge  was,  that  he  had  said  that  '  the  Court  of  Heaven 
was  adjourned  for  a' little  space,  till  one  of  the  members  came 
down  to  take  upon  him  humanity.'  These  expressions  were  con- 
demned as  untrue,  and  as  '  discovering  a  want  of  sound  knowledge, 
and  implying  a  variety  of  absurd  notions.' 

It  was  complained  that  in  one  of  his  sermons  he  had  said  that 
'  persons  would  follow  their  unconverted  ministers,  till  they  come 
to  hell.'  It  was  one  of  the  doctrines  broached  and  much  msisted 
on  during  this  religious  agitation,  that  those  who  were  truly  con- 
verted must  not  only  certainly  know  it,  but  that  they  had  the  pow- 
er of  discerning  with  hardly  less  than  certainty,  whether  or  not 
others  were  converted,  and  nothing  was  more  common  among  the 
over-heated  zealots  of  that  day,  than  the  pronunciation  of  whole- 
sale condemnation  against  the  ministers  of  the  land,  multitudes  of 
whom  were  denounced  as  unconverted  men.  Mr.  Prentice  was 
thought  by  the  council  to  have  countenanced  these  hard  and  un- 
charitable judgments  too  much. 

One  other  charge  against  the  doctrines  he  preached  was,  that  he 
had  said,  '  to  what  purpose  is  it  to  preach  to  an  uuregenerate  man,' 
*  *  *  '  to  tell  him  he  must  not  kill,  must  not  steal,  must  not 
do  these  and  those  things?  for  he  has  no  power  to  resist  them  ;  for 
heis  the  Devil's  slave  and  vassal,  and  doeth  just  what  the  Devd 
would  have  him  do.'  This  was  considered  by  the  council  as  '  car- 
rying the  matter  too  far.' 


(  19  ) 

The  introduction  of  uneducated  exhorters  and  itinerants  into  his 
pulpit,  and  the  obtrusion  of  himself  into  the  charges  of  other  min- 
isters without  their  consent,  were  also  charges  preferred  against 
him.  The  council  judged  it  condemnable  and  entreated  him  to 
guard  against  such  a  course  in  future. 

Other  complaints  were  brought  against  the  preaching  of  Mr. 
Prentice,  in  which  the  council  thought  it  proper  to  condemn  him 
in  part,  and  caution  him  for  the  future.  Nothing  was  urged  against 
him  affecting  his  moral  character. 

The  council  exhorted  the  aggrieved  brethren  to  bury  all  past 
dissatisfaction,  and  to  sit  contentedly  and  peaceably  under  his  mm- 
istrations,  if  he  should  accept  their  judgment  and  advice. 

We  might  suspect  from  the  censures  laid  upon  Mr.  Prentice  by 
this  council,  that  the  men  who  composed  it  vvere  unfriendly  to  him 
or  to  the  revival.  But  this  suspicion  is  forbidden  by  the  fact  that 
it  was  a  mutual  council.  And  we  find  the  names  of  a  majority  of 
the  clerical  members,  associated  with  that  of  Mr.  Prentice  himself, 
in  a  document  issued  the  previous  year  from  an  assembly  of  minis- 
ters met  in  Boston,  bearing  testimony  to  the  genuineness  of  '  the 
late  revival  of  religion.'* 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  fa- 
vorers of  the  extraordinary  means  which  were  employed  to  produce 
the  tempest  of  religious  emotion  which  swept  over  the  whole  coun- 
try. His  honesty  and  conscientiousness  are  not  to  be  doubted  for 
a  moment — his  discretion  may  be.  Some  good  probably  came  of 
his  measures ;  but  that  much  evil  accompanied  it  there  can  be  no 
question.  If  there  was  a  revival  of  religion  here,  there  was  a  re- 
vival of  some  things  else  which  were  not  so  good.  The  excite- 
ment bore  some  fruits  which  are  not  to  be  recognized  as  Christian 
fruits. 

The  result  of  the  council  was  accepted  by  both  parties,  but  evi- 
dently with  little  heartiness  on  the  part  of  the  pastor.  Indeed  he 
declared  to  the  church  that  he  felt  '  very  much  hurt  and  pressed  by 
it ;'  but  '  as  he  had  submitted  matters  of  controversy  to  the  coun- 
cil,' he  acquiesced  in  their  judgment,  *  so  far  as  he  could  and  not 
infringe  upon  his  conscience.' 

*  Appendix,  D. 


(  20  ) 

There  was  but  a  temporary  quiet  enjoyed  by  the  church  after 
this  adjustment  of  its  difficulties.  There  had  been  no  real  recon- 
ciliation. In  the  early  part  of  1746  the  disaffection  broke  out 
aneV.*  Mr.  Prentice  was  charged  with  not  having  followed  the 
advice  of  the  council  in  all  particulars.  He  replied  that  he  never 
intended  to  in  every  particular,  as  he  must  violate  his  own  con- 
science if  he  did  so.  Church  meetings  were  resumed ;  council 
followed  council  as  before  ;  but  all  to  no  purpose.  The  advice  of 
the  counsellors  was  in  each  case  voted  accepted  by  all,  and  then 
followed  by  none.  The  Church  continued  in  this  distracted  state 
till  Mr.  Prentice  at  last  '  signified  that  he  was  discouraged  in  his 
station,'  and  was  willing  to  receive  a  dismission.  A  council  was 
accordingly  called,  by  whose  advice  he  was  dismissed,  July  10th, 
1747. 

In  a  communication  which  he  made  to  this  council,  he  alludes 
most  touchingly  to  his  trials  and  perplexities,  exhibiting  a  deep  and 
tender  interest  in  the  flock  of  his  charge,  and  expressing  his  desire 
to  continue  in  the  sacred  office  of  the  ministry,  '  if  it  might  be  for 
the  glory  of  God,  and  the  spiritual  good  of  His  church  and  people.' 
It  breathes  throughout  the  spirit  of  the  devoted  Christian  pastor, 
who  desires  to  live  only  for  his  Master's  great  work ;  and  whatever 
errors  of  doctrine  or  practice  he  may  have  fallen  into  in  the  admin- 
istration of  religious  truth,  none,  who  read  his  feeling  lamentations 
over  the  sad  dissensions  in  the  church,  and  his  humble  account  of 
his  own  labors,  can  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  belief,  that  he  was 
a  '  man  of  God,'  pure  in  heart,  and  of  true  piety.  Whatever  may 
have  been  his  errors,  their  root  was  not  in  the  heart. 

After  the  dissolution  of  his  connection  with  this  people,  he  went 
to  Easton,  in  Bristol  County,  where  he  was  installed  pastor  of  the 
First  Congregational  Church  in^^that  town  on  the  2d  of  November, 
1747.  He  remained  there  about  seven  years,  and  near  the  close  of 
those  seven  years,  his  opinions  having  undergone  some  change,  he  is 
said  to  have  proposed  that  his  Church  should  join  the  Presbyteri- 
ans.    Some  favored  it,  but  a  majority  refused.    He  notwithstanding 


*  The  length  to  which  it  had  gone  may  be  inferred  from  the  foUowing  entry 
made  by  the  pastor  upon  the  records:  '  May  4,  17i6,'_Sac't  of  tlie  Lord's  Supper 
administered  here.     Many,  viz.  sixty,  absent.' 


(  31   ) 

joined  them  as  a,  minister,  and  had  one  or  more  meetings  of  the 
Presbytery  at  his  house.  For  some  cause  not  known,  the  Presby- 
tery in  1754  suspended  him  temporarily  from  his  ministry.  This 
cut  him  off  from  the  support  of  the  parish  and  the  means  of  living, 
End  he  scon  left  the  place  and  returned  to  Grafton.  He  continued 
to  preach  in  different  places  till  near  the  close  of  his  life.  He  died 
in  this  town  May  22,  1773,  aged  sixty-eight. 

Mr.  Prentice  erected  a  house,  in  which  he  lived  while  minister  of 
the  town,  upon  or  near  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  house  of 
Hon.  Samuel  Wood. 

Mr.  Joseph  Merriam  was  chosen  the  third  deacon  of  the  Church 
in  1742. 

It  was  nearly  three  years  after  Mr.  Prentice  was  dismissed  before 
another  minister  was  settled.  During  this  interval,  in  1749,  the 
Church  voted  to  take  the  Cambridge  Platform  as  their  rule  of 
Church  discipline  '  in  the  main  things  or  articles  therein  contain- 
ed.' They  took  it  only  '  in  so  far  as  they  thought  it  to  be  support- 
ed by  and  grounded  on  the  express  word  of  God.'  '  As  to  other 
things  that  might  be  looked  on  as  expedients  for  the  well-orderinir 
of  a  church,'  they  adopted  it  as  their  'general'  rule.* 

Rev.  Aaron  Hutchinson,  from  Hebron,  Ct.,  was  ordained  the 
second  pastor  of  this  church,  June  6,  1750. t  Rev.  Mr.  Martyn,  of 
Westborough,  [now  Northboro',]  made  the  first  prayer.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Pumroy,  of  Hebron,  preached  the  sermon  from  Acts  xx.  28. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Loring,  of  Sudbury,  gave  the  charge,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Parkman,  of  Westborough,  the  right  hand  of  Fellowship.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Hall,  of  Sutton,  joined  in  laying  on  of  hands,  and  made 


*  The  attempt  seems  to  have  been  made  at  a  later  day  to  bring  the  Churcli  uu- 
dbr  a'lnore'stn'ngent  appHcation  of  the  Cambridge  Platform,  but  without  success. 
Tlie  qut^tion,  a's  it  ealne  before  the  Church,  seems  to  have  been,  '  whetlier  tlie 
church  do  now  adhere  to  the  Cainbridgje  Platform,  as  a  full  and  just  system  for 
chure.h  Rule  and  discipline,  as  being  full  well  proved  and  supported  by  the  word 
of  God  ill  efi.ch  and  every  part  and  paragraph  therein  contained.'  The  words  itali- 
cised are  partially  erased.  The  vote  as  passed  was, '  to  atlhere  to  it  as  a  good  plan 
ol'  church  rule  and  discipline.'  We  may  al.so  infer  that  this  church  practised  a  less 
rigorous  discipline  than  some  of  the  neighboring  churches,  from  the  fact  that  one 
of  its  members  in  r^gular  standing  was  refused  admittance  to  a  church  in  an  ad- 
joining town,  because  of  his  unwillingness  to  sign  their  articles  of  discipline. 

t  Appendix,  E. 


(  '22  ) 

the    last    prayer.      Rev.    Mr.    Stone,    of    Southborough,   and]  Mr. 
Maccarty,  of  Worcester,  '  consented  and  helped  by  their  voice.' 

Mr.  Hutchinson  remained  in  the  ministry  here  till  Nov.  18,  1772, 
when  he  was  dismissed  by  the  church,  (though  not  by  the  town,) 
having  been  the  pastor  a  little  more  than  twenty-two  years.  The 
condition  of  the  church  during  his  connection  with  it  seems  to 
have  been  for  the  most  part  peaceful  and  prosperous.  He  was  a 
man  of  strong  natural  powers  of  mind,  and  was  considered  a  learn- 
ed man  and  a  good  classical  scholar  by  his  contemporaries.  Soon 
after  his  settlement  the  covenant  was  so  altered  as  to  recognize  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  to  require  the  scriptures  to  be  under- 
stood '  in  that  view  as  exhibited  to  us  in  the  well  known  Westminster 
Catechism.'  It  was  the  hand  of  Mr.  Hutchinson  that  interlined 
these  alterations  of  the  covenant,  and  it  was  doubtless  his  counsel 
that  led  to  their  adoption.  In  his  theology  he  was  severe  and  some- 
what dogmatical.  Being  called  in  the  year  1767  to  Newbury,  to 
sit  on  an  ecclesiastical  council  which  was  convened  by  some  disaf- 
fected members  of  the  First  Church  in  that  place,  a  Sabbath  passed 
during  the  time  the  council  was  in  session,  and  Mr.  Hutchinson 
preached  by  invitation  at  Newburyport.  His  sermon  was  published, 
and  led  to  a  protracted  controversy.  Rev.  John  Tucker,  (after- 
wards Dr.,)  minister  of  the  First  Parish  in  Newbury,  was  of  Armi- 
nian  sentiments — sentiments  which  were  then  entertained  by  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  clergy  of  New-England.  It  was  his  suppo- 
sed heresy  which  called  together  the  council  of  which  Mr.  Hutch- 
inson was  a  member.  The  sermon  that  he  preached  was  aimed  at 
this  defection  from  Calvin,  and  those  preachers  who  countenanced 
it.  It  was  entitled  '  Valour  for  the  Truth.'*  The  main  doctrine 
which  it  seeks  to  establish,  is  that  of  original  and  imputed  sin, 
vvliich  he  carries  out  to  its  full  and  legitimate  results,  by  urging 
that  infants  are  exposed  to  damnation  and  eternal  misery.  He  op- 
poses the  notion  that  infants  are  innocent,  with  argument,  satire 
and  ridicule,  declaring  that  they  are  '  sinners,  guilty  and  .polluted, 
or  they  cannot  be  saved  in  any  way  pointed  out  in  our  Bible.'  This 
odious  doctrine,  now  abandoned  by  many  Calvinists  of  New-Eng- 
land, Mr.  Hutchinson  propounded  and  maintained  in  all  its  offen- 

*Toxt— Jer.  IX,  3—'  But  they  arc  not  valiant  for  the  trutli  upon  the  earth.' 


( '^'i ) 

sive  baldness,  without  any  attempt  at  softening  or  palliation  ;  deal- 
ing ever  and  anon,  as  he  went  along,  side  blows  at  those  preachers 
whose  teaching  conformed  not  to  his  doctrine,  and  almost  as  often 
at  those  '  Neuters,'  as  he  termed  them,  '  who  hide  their  principles, 
hover  in  the  dark,  and  whose  trumpet  gives  an  uncertain  sound.' 
If  he  has  little  patience  with  those  who  deny  his  cherished  dogmas, 
he  has  less  with  those  who  say  nothing  about  them,  or  hold  them  by 
halves.  Mr.  Tucker  reviewed  his  sermon,  and  pamphlets  followed 
from  both  sides.  Mr.  Hutchinson  found  he  had  encountered  no 
contemptible  antagonist.  He  was  opposed  with  a  set  of  weapons 
different  from  his  own,  but  not  less  effective.  He  was  a  son  of 
thunder,  strong,  bold  and  impetuous.  His  opponent  was  quick- 
eyed,  practised  and  self-possessed.  The  skill  of  the  disputants,  and 
the  lively  interest  taken  in  the  questions  under  discussion  by  the 
religious  world  at  that  period,  gave  considerable  celebrity  to  the 
controversy. 

Mr.  Hutchinson  was  distinguished  for  an  extraordinary  memory. 
The  tradition  is  familiar  to  you,  that  he  considered  himself  capable 
of  re-writing  the  New  Testament  if  it  should  be  lost.  There  are 
those  now  living  among  us,  who  remember  to  have  seen  him  enter 
the  pulpit  and  go  through  the  whole  service  without  opening  a  book 
of  any  kind.  He  appointed  his  hymns  and  recited  them,  as  well  as 
passages  of  scripture,  with  entire  confidence  in  his  memory,  and 
without  mistake. 

The  church  records  throw  no  light  upon  the  causes  of  Jlr.  Hutch- 
inson's dismission  from  his  people.  They  barely  state  the  fact  of 
his  dismission,  showing  that  the  proposition  to  separate  came  from 
himself  Difi^iculties  are  hinted  at,  but  neither  stated  nor  explained. 
We  find  in  the  town  records,  that  when  it  was  voted,  in  1771,  to 
pay  Mr.  Hutchinson  his  salary  as  usual,  fifteen  persons  entered  their 
dissent  from  that  ^ote,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  '  forfeited  his  sal- 
ary by  his  irregular  conduct,  as  had  been  proved  before  an  ecclesi- 
astical council,  he  having  been  found  guilty  of  dissimulation,  hypoc- 
risy and  violation  of  truth.'  But  the  charges  of  these  fifteen  dissent- 
ers bear  strong  marks  of  being  dictated  by  feelings  of  personal  un- 
friendliness; for  it  is  not  probable  that  if  such  flagrant  misconduct 
had  been  clearly  proven  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  unprejudiced,  the 
number  of  dissenters  would  have  been  so  small,  nor  that  the  town 


(  24  ) 

would  have  refused  to  dismiss  Mr.  Hutchinson  when  a  council 
advised  it.  Neither  can  we  suppose  that  the  church  would  have 
recommended  him  to  the  fellowship  of  a  sister  church,  as  they  did, 
if  they  had  believed  that  such  charges  against  his  moral  character 
could  be  substantiated.  The  town  refused  to  accept  the  result  of 
the  council  which  advised  Mr.  Hutchinson's  dismissal  in  1771,  and 
voted  not  to  release  him.  And  when  the  question  came  up  a  year 
after,  whether  they  would  concur  with  the  church's  vote  in  dismiss- 
ing him,  they  refused  to  concur.  It  appears  that  he  had  not  be- 
come generally  unacceptable  to  the  people  ;  and  that  the  town  never 
/  did  by  vote  consent  to  his  dismission.  Many  were  dissatisfied  that 
the  church  should  act  in  the  matter  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
town,  and  when  afterwards  the  town  was  asked  to  unite  with  the 
church  in  calling  another  minister,  one  man,  Mr.  Abraham  Temple, 
objected  to  any  such  proceeding  being  had  on  the  ground  that  '  the 
church  had  not  informed  the  town  what  is  become  of  their  old  rnin- 
ister.'  The  church,  however,  expressly  disclaimed  the  intention  of 
abridging  the  rights  of  the  town,  or  of  assuming  the  power  to  settle 
or  dismiss  a  minister  without  the  town's  consent.  It  is  probable 
that  Mr.  Hutchinson,  finding  "that  his  presence  was  the  cause  of  dis- 
sension, chose  to  retire  without  waiting  for  the  town  to  agree  to  his 
departure.  The  termination  of  his  pastoral  relation  to  his  people,  we 
are  inclined  to  believe,  was  occasioned  more  by  some  offensive  ec- 
centricities in  his  social  habits,  than  by  any  defect  of  moral  char- 
acter, or  disqualifications  as  a  teacher  of  religion.  lie  was  with- 
out grace  or  polish  in  his  manners,  and  his  freedom,  though  he 
probably  was  not  conscious  of  it  himself,  must  often  have  verged 
upon  rudeness.  This  trait  might  naturally  produce  in  some  minds, 
after  a  time,  a  degree  of  coolness,  and  even  aversion.  A,nd  a  breach 
beinw  once  made,  it  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  that  it  should  grad- 
ually increase  till  it  ended  in  an  open  rupture.^ 

The  house  which  stands  a  few  feet  south  of  the  'Evangelical 
Congregational'  church,  was  built  and  occupied  by  Mr.  Hutchinson. 

He  died,  at  an  advanced  age,  in  Vermont.  He  graduated  at 
Yale  College  in  1747,  and  was  honored  with  the  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts  from  Harvard  and  Dartmouth  Colleges.  Several  of  his 
sermons  were  published.  Those  which  we  have  seen  bear  the  same 
characteristics  on  which  we  have  remarked  at  some  length  in  one 


(    '^o    ) 

of  them.  He  was  confident  in  his  opinions  and  strong  in  main- 
taining them.  He  pressed  his  views  vigorously  and  forcibly  upon 
liis  hearers,  and  probably  carried  them  with  him  generally  to  his 
own  conclusions.  He  must  have  been  a  preacher  of  much  more 
than  common  power  and  influence.* 

Abner  Stow  was  elected  the  fourth  Deacon  of  this  Church  in 
1750,  and  Joseph  Batcheller  the  fifth  in  1765. 

In  the  year  1770,  Watts's  version  of  the  Psalms,  '  together  with 
his  scripture  hymns  in  the  first  and  third  books,'  came  into  use  as 
a  collection  of  hymns  for  public  worship. 't  Previous  to  this  the 
New  England  version  had  been  in  use,  and  the  change  to  a  new 
book  was  here,  as  generally  elsewhere,  attended  with  no  little  diffi- 
culty and  opposition.  It  was  about  the  same  time  that  the  church 
Velinquished  to  selected  choristers  the  authority  to  appoint  the  tunes 
which  should  be  sung  in  church;  though  not  without  a  reservation, 
which  required  all  but  the  tune  after  the  last  prayer  to  be  *  such 
tunes  as  have  been  usual  of  late,  and  such  old  tunes  as  upon  tryal 
may  be  thought  proper  for  the  public  worship.'  The  first  persons 
chosen  choristers  were  Jonathan  Stow  and  Moses  Harrington. 

After  Mr.  Hutchinson's  dismission  the  church  was  without  a  pas- 
tor till  Oct,  19,  1774,  when  Mr.  Daniel  (jrosvenor,  from  Pomfret, 
Conn.,  was  ordained  the  third  minister  of  the  town. 

In  the  ordaining  services,  the  Rev.  Aaron  Putnam,  Pastor  of  the 
first  church  in  Pomfret,  began  with  prayer  ;  the  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Grosvenor,  preached  from  Gen.  45  :  24  ;t  the  Rev.  Elisha  Fish,  of 
Upton,  prayed  before  the  charge ;  and  Rev.  David  Ripley,  of  the 
third  church  in  Pomfret,  (now  Abington,)  and  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Sumner,  of  Shrewsbury,  joined  in  laying  on  hands ;  the  Rev.  David 
Hall,  of  Sutton,  gave  the  charge  ;  the  Rev.  Amariah  Frost,  of  the 
second  church  in  Mendon,  (now  Milford,)  gave  the  right  hand  of 

*  See  Appendix,  F. 

1 1  do  not  find  in  the  Church  records  any  intimation  of  the  reasons  for  which 
tlie  second  booli  was  rejected.  Mr.  Brigham,  in  his  valuable  Centennial  Address, 
ascribes  it  to  its  '  supposed  unscriptural  cha'-acter.' 

i  The  preacher  was  an  older  brother  of  the  pastor  elect,  at  that  time  minister  of 
Pcituate,  afterwards  settled  at  Harvard.     His  sermon  was  printed.    His  text, '  See 
that  ye  fall  not  by  the  way,'  gave  him  occasion  to  point  out  the  sources  both  in   ^9^-^/" 
minister  and  people,  frcm  which  faUings  out  usually  come.     Its  couiipif  was  ju- 
dicious and  well-timed. 

4 


(26) 

Fellowship ;  and  tlie  Rev.  Josiah  Whitney,  of  the  second  church 
in  Pomfret,  (now  Brooklyn,)  made  the  last  prayer. 

Mr.  Grosvenor  continued  in  the  ministry  here  till  the  close  of 
the  year  1787,  when  he  was  dismissed  at  his  ov/n  request,  having 
lost  his  voice.  He  had  never  constant  and  firm  health,  and  was 
obliged  occasionally  to  suspend  his  pulpit  labors  for  a  while,  before 
the  failure  of  his  voice  entirely  disabled  him.  The  success  of  his 
ministerial  labors  here  is  best  attested  by  the  imwillingness  of  his 
people  to  consent  to  his  removal,  so  long  as  they  saw  any  reason  to 
hope  that  he  would  be  able  to  resume  his  labors.  He  was  a  man 
of  very  pleasing  manners,  both  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it,  dignified 
in  his  bearing,  courteous  and  engaging  in  his  address.  Rare  con- 
versational powers,  united  with  these  qualities,  made  him  every- 
where a  pleasant  companion.  His  fondness  of  anecdote,  ready  wit 
and  plentiful  resources,  also  served  to  make  his  presence  always 
welcome  to  those  who  loved  society.  In  his  doctrines  he  was  said 
to  be  moderate,  avoiding  all  extremes ;  and  as  his  manner  of  speak- 
ing was  easy,  fluent  and  vivacious,  his  attractions  as  a  preacher 
were  much  more  than  ordinary.  The  years  of  his  ministry  em- 
braced the  period  of  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  in  which  crisis 
he  evinced  his  attachment  to  the  cause  of  his  country  by  '  leaving 
his  pulpit,  taking  his  musket  and  joining  the  company  of  minute 
men  that  went  to  Cambridge  on  the  19th  of  April.'* 

The  church  was  united  and  peaceful  during  his  ministry,  and 
consented  with  reluctance  to  his  dismission. 

Mr.  Grosvenor,  having  recovered  his  voice,  was  settled  again  in 
Paxton  on  the  5th  of  Nov.  1794,  where  he  remained  eight  years. 
He  resigned  his  charge  there  on  the  17th  of  Nov.  1802, t  and  spent  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  at  Petersham.  He  was  born  in  Pomfret,  Ct., 
in  1749,  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1769,  and  died  at  Petersham, 
July  22,  1834,  aged  eighty-four  years.  His  grave  is  made  in  my 
native  village.  His  white  locks  and  venerable  appearance  I  re- 
member well,  having  often  looked  upon  them  with  respect  in  my 
childhood. 

After  Mr.  Grosvenor's  resignation  the  church  remained  destitute 


*  Brigliam's  Centennial  Address,  p.  29. 
t  Worcester  Magazine,  II,  240. 


(  '^7  ) 

of  a  pastor  nearly  nine  years. .  The  records  made  during  tl;is  time 
are  meagre,  and  contain  little  matter  of  interest. 

In  1790,  Joseph  Merriam,  Jr.  and  Jonathan  Stow  were  chosen 
deacons. 

The  same  year  Mr.  Nathaniel  Howe  was  invited  to  become  the 
minister  of  the  town,  but  declined  the  invitation. 

Rev.  Mr.  Grosvenor  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  John  Miles,  a  native 
of  Westminster  and  graduate  of  Brown  University,  R.  I.,  who  was 
*  ordained  the  fourth  pastor  of  the  church,  Oct.  12th,  1796.  We 
here  come  to  a  period  in  the  history  of  which  some  now  living  bore 
apart.  We  shall  pass  on  rapidly  to  a  conclusion,  noting  only  a  few 
important  facts  which  deserve  a  somewhat  particular  mention. 

Rev.  Mr.  Miles's  ministry  continued  thirty  years.  He  was  dismiss- 
ed on  the  7th  of  September,  1826,  with  expressions  of  respect  arid 
affection  from  his  people,  and  with  a  recommendation  from  an  ec- 
clesiastical council  as  a  worthy  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  same  day,  Mr.  Moses  C.  Searle  was  ordained  his  successor. 
■  In  1810,  Timothy  Merriam  and  Nathaniel  Adams  were  elected 
deacons.     Albert  Stone  was  elected  to  the  same  office  in  1820,  Jo- 
seph Merriam   in   1824,*  Holland  Greenwood  in  1831,  and  Otis 
Prince  in  1832. 

In  April,  1827,  the  expediency  of  establishing  a  Sabbath  School 
was  considered  by  the  church,  and  it  was  voted  to  make  the  *  at- 
tempt.'    The  attempt  succeeded. 

Soon  after  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Searle,  it  became  the  policy  of 
the  pastor  and  church  to  insist  more  strenuously  than  had  been  usual 
upon  doctrinal  qualifications,  as  conditions  of  admission  to  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  church.  It  was  voted  that  persons  coming  from 
other  churches  with  certificates  of  dismission  and  recommendation, 
'  should  be  examined  before  the  church  as  was  customary  in  the 
case  of  those  who  come  forward  the  first  time  to  make  profession  of 
religion.'  In  1828,  the  covenant  was  revised  and  altered  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  give  it  a  more  sectarian  aspect,  and  a  creed  of  many 
articles  was  appended  to  it,  apparently  for  the  same  purpose.  The 
ancient  and  catholic  foundation  upon  which  the  church  was  reared, 


*  Three  Joseph  Merriams  of  three  successive  generations  have  held  this  oSicp 
in  the  church. 


(  28  ) 

was  at  last  swept  away,  and  the  narrow  platform  of  a  party  was  sub- 
stituted for  it.  The  consequence  of  this  prescription  of  the  creed 
of  a  sect  was,  of  course,  that  none  but  persons  of  that  sect  could 
gain  admission  to  the  church,  or  participate  in  those  ordinances 
which  the  Saviour  has  enjoined  upon  his  followers.  The  presence 
of  sectarian  tests  in  the  covenant  had,  indeed,  since  its  alteration 
in  1750,  kept  all  but  the  adherents  of  the  Westminster  Catechism 
without  its  pale.  Faith,  humility,  prayer,  a  devout  walk  and  con-  ^ 
versation,  had  ceased  to  be  sufficient  criteria  of  Christian  disciple- 
ship,  and  conditions  of  Christian  communion.  The  majority  of  the 
congregation  had  risen,  as  they  believed,  to  a  juster  apprehension 
of  religious  truth.  They  had  ceased  to  believe  in  some  of  the  doc- 
trines which  their  fathers  had  held,  and  felt  that  they  were  not  edifi- 
ed by  hearing  them  still  presented  as  the  very  essence  of  Christian- 
ity. But  none  of  them,  however  accordant  their  lives  and  spirits 
with  the  teaching  and  example  of  Jesus,  could  be  members  of  this 
church.  Though  they  might  be  of  those  of  whom  Jesus  said,  they 
are  '  my  brother  and  sister  and  mother,'  though  the  Bible  alone  was 
their  creed  and  the  rule  of  their  living,  they  were  not  admitted  to 
the  fellowship  of  this  church,  which  received  to  its  communion  only 
those  who  would  take  in  addition  to  the  Bible  a  creed  to  limit  it. 

It  was  no  strange  thing,  therefore,  that  when  the  majority  of  the 
Society  chose  to  dismiss  a  minister,  Avhose  teaching  seemed  to  them 
neither  true  nor  profitable,  they  should  part  company  with  a  church, 
every  member  of  which  stood  committed  to  a  doctrinal  system 
which  they  rejected  as  human  in  its  origin,  and  unscriptural  in  its 
character. 

Such  was  the  case.  This  society,  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  third 
of  December,  1831,  voted  to  dismiss  Rev.  Mr.  Searle.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  who  of  course  could  have  been  only  such  as  em- 
braced the  same  opinions  that  their  pastor  held,  since  such  only  were 
allowed  in  the  creed,  soon  seceded,  and  with  others  organized  a 
new  society  with  which  they  voted  as  a  church  to  connect  them- 
selves. They  took  the  name  of  the  '  Evangelical  Congregational 
Church  and  Society.' 

All  the  members  of  the  church  having  left  the  Society,  there 
was  now  no  obstacle  to  the  re-formation  of  a  church  within  the 
bosom  of  the  Society. 


( -i^ ) 

This  was  accordingly  done.  On  Sunday,  Aug.  r>,  18J>2,  a  church 
*  was  regularly  gathered  from  the  Congregational  Society,  called  the 
Congregational  Church ;'  as  such  it  is  known  to  the  laws  of  the 
land,  it  being  considered  the  successor  to  the  original  church  con- 
nected with  this  Society.  Nineteen  persons  covenanted  together 
as  members.  The  venerable  Dr.  Bancroft,  of  Worcester,  and  Rev. 
Edward  B.  Hall,  now  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  who  was  then  preaching 
to  the  Society,  conducted  the  services  of  the  occasion.  The 
covenant  which  was  adopted  is  as  follows  : 

"  Being  desirous  of  obeying  the  precepts  and  enjoying  the  privi- 
leges of  the  Christian  Religion,  and  aiding  each  other  in  the  dis- 
charge of  its  duties,  we  do,  by  this  covenant,  unite  in  a  Christian 
church,  to  walk  together  in  the  faith  and  order  of  the  Gospel,  giv- 
ing the  following  expressions  of  our  individual  belief  and  desire  : — 

"  I  believe  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as 
the  Avord  of  God  and  receive  them  as  the  proper  and  only  rule 
of  faith  and  duty.  I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God, 
'  exalted  to  be  a  Prince  and  Saviour,'  the  '  Mediator  between  God 
and  man,'  '  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life.'  On  his  religion  I  rest 
my  hopes  of  salvation.  His  precepts  I  wish  to  obey.  And  I  now 
unite  myself  to  His  church,  to  commemorate  His  love  in  the  ordi- 
nance which  He  instituted  and  gave  to  His  disciples. 

"  I  do  this  as  an  expression  of  my  firm  belief  in  the  divinity  of 
His  religion,  and  my  earnest  desire  and  solemn  purpose  to  live  as 
His  disciple,  humbly  hoping  through  the  grace  of  God  to  become 
an  heir  of  salvation." 

Isaac  W.  Wood  was  chosen  deacon  of  the  church,  Aug.  9th, 
1832.  Mr.  Rufus  A.  Johnson  was  ordained  its  pastor  in  1833,  and 
dismissed  in  1838.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Cazneau  Palfrey, 
who  continued  in  the  same  office  till  the  spring  of  1843. 

I  have  thus  followed  the  history  of  this  church  doivn  to  a  recent 
period,  since  which  its  history  is  known  to  you  all.  I  do  not  feel 
at  liberty  to  detain  you  with  the  reflections  which  my  theme  has 
been  so  fruitful  in  suggesting.  Many  a  text  for  profitable  lessons 
have  we  left  unheeded  in  reviewing  these  chronicles  of  the  past.  I 
only  wait  now  to  enjoin  it  upon  you  (as  I  do  also  upon  myself,)  to 
cherish  in  remembrance  the  virtues  of  the  fathers.  And,  while  we 
venerate  their  names,  and  admire  the  heroic  constancy  and  entire- 


(.30  ) 

ness  of  their  allegiauce  to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  may  we  do  bet- 
ter than  admire,  may  we  imitate.  May  we  learn  to  venerate,  even 
more  than  themselves,  the  truth  that  made  them  what  they  were. 
We  are  not  the  sons  of  our  fathers,  if  we  look  to  any  other  than 
Jesus  as  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith.  We  are  not  their 
children,  if  we  make  even  themselves  our  chief  teachers.  They 
'  charge  us  before  God  and  his  blessed  angels  that  we  follow  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  They  charge  us  not  to  '  come  to  a  period  in 
religion,'  but  to  have  our  eyes  ever  directed  to  the  *  written  word,' 
expectant  of  increasing  light.  We  are  not  of  them,  if  we  remain 
fast  fixed  at  the  point  which  they  last  left.  If  we  would  be  to  our 
age  and  to  them,  what  they  were  to  their  age  and  their  forefathers, 
we  must  be  advancing  from  their  position,  looking  higher  and  get- 
ting forward,  lingering  not  in  lazy  contentment  with  any  present 
acquirements.  Above  all,  if  we  would  make  good  a  claim  to  their 
kindred,  we  must  cherish  those  Christian  principles  and  affections 
which  they  prized  above  all  knowledge.  Their  self-renunciation, 
their  sustaining  and  unquenchable  faith  in  the  paternal  providence 
of  God,  their  unintermitting  and  martyr-like  devotion  as  Christian 
disciples,  their  steadfast  adhesion  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  and 
the  interests  of  the  church,  these  are  the  marked  features  in  their 
characters.  Take  these  away,  and  you  take  away  the  traits  that 
distinguish  them  from  their  generation.  And  in  so  far  as  these  are 
wanting  in  us,  we  want  the  qualities  which  alone  can  render  us 
worth  v  of  them. 


APPENDIX. 


A.-PAGE  3. 


A  secession  from  the  Congregational  Society  took  place  in  18;V2, 
on  account  of  differences  in  matters  of  faith.  The  minority  that  with- 
drew comprised  the  church.  The  records  and  furniture  of  the 
church  were  removed  by  them.  They  were  asked  to  return  these 
to  the  Congregational  Church,  but  refused.  This  church,  although 
believing  that  they  needed  only  to  insist  upon  the  restoration  of  this 
property  to  recover  it,  were  disinclined  to  prosecute  their  claims  by 
litigation.  The  matter  rested  till  near  the  dose  of  the  year  1845, 
when  it  was  again  taken  into  consideration  by  the  church.  It  was 
then  voted  to  choose  a  committee  to  communicate  with  the  Evan- 
gelical Congregational  Church  on  the  subject.  This  led  to  the  fol- 
lowing correspondence : 

'  Grafton,  Jan.  20,  1846. 

'  To  THK  Evangelical  Congregational  Church  in  Grafton  : 
Christian  Brethren  and  Friends  : — 

'  At  a  recent  meeting  of 
the  Congregational  Church  in  said  Grafton,  we  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  address  a  communication  to  you  respecting  certain 
records  of  the  Congregational  Church  supposed  to  be  now  in  your 
possession  and  subject  to  your  control.     In  obedience  to  our   in- 


(  3^2   ) 

ptructious,  we  pioceiid  to  lay  the  mutter  with  which  we  are  charged 
before  you. 

'  You  are  aware  that  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  183'2,  a  part  of  the 
Congregational  Society,  and  all  of  the  members  but  one*  of  the 
church  connected  \Tith  the  Society,  seceded  from  that  parish.  You 
are  aware  that  the  se&eding  members  of  the  church  took  with  them 
in  tlieir  removal  all  the  records  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
which  had  been  made  up  to  the  time  of  their  seces:?ion.  You  are 
aware  that  a  deuiand  of  those  records  was  soon  after  made  by  a 
deacon  of  the  Congregational  Church,  upon  one  who  had  been  its 
deacon,  but  who  had  seceded  from  the  Congregational  Society,  and 
that  that  demand  was  not  complied  with. 

'  These  records  we  consider  ever  to  have  been,  and  still  to  be, 
legally  and  rightfully  the  property  of  the  Congregational  Church, — 
by  which  we  mean  the  church  connected  with  the  Congregational 
Society.  This  cimrch  has  forborne  hitherto  to  press  its  claim  to 
this  property  to  the  utmost  by  bringing  the  matter  before  a  legal 
tribunal.  It  has  forborne  to  do  this,  not  from  any  doubt  of  the  va- 
lidity of  its  claim,  nor  any  doubt  as  to  what  the  decision  of  such  a 
tribunal  would  be;  for  we  suppose  there  can  be  no  question  that 
the  law,  as  it  has  been  uniformly  expounded  in  our  Courts,  would 
award  these  records  to  the  church  connected  with  the  Congrega- 
tional Society.  But  we  have  been  unwilling  to  provoke  dissension 
or  bitterness  of  feeling.  We  have  suffered  what  we  have  deemed 
our  rights  to  be  long  withheld  from  us,  from  reluctance  to  exact 
them  at  the  expense  of  peace.  It  is  repugnant  to  our  minds  as 
Christians,  to  present  to  the  community  the  spectacle  of  two  Chris- 
tian churches  resorting  to  litigation  to  settle  their  differences.  We 
are  still,  as  we  have  always  been,  solicitous  to  avoid  giving  any 
cause  of  acrimonious  or  unfriendly  feelings.  In  that  spirit  we  now 
address  you,  and,  as  we  are  authorized  to  do,  submit  to  your  con- 
sideration the  following  proposals : 


*  The  records  of  the  church  being  beyond  the  reach  of  this  committee  at  the 
time  their  letter  was  written,  they  may  be  pardoned  a  slight  mistake  in  supposinij 
that  one  member  was  left  behind  by  the  seceding  church,  when  in  fact  the  one 
member  who  did  not  withdraw  in  their  company  hud  been  excommunicated,  as  a 
step 2'rcli mi tuiry  to  theii-  secession.  The  excision  of  this  member  took  ])lace  af- 
ter the  artual  separation  of  the  church  from  the  society,  though  before  the  formal 
dissolution  of  ths  connection. 


(  3:3  ) 

'  First.  We  respectfully  ask  you  to  surrender  to  us  the  records 
of  the  Congregational  Church  before  referred  to  ;— because  we  re- 
gard the  church  now  connected  with  the  Congregational  Society 
as  the  true  Congregational  Church,  and  the  rightful  possessor  of 
the  same. 

'  Such  a  request  has  once  been  refused.     It  may  be  again.     We 
are  therefore  willing  in  the  spirit  of  compromise  and  concession  to 
make  other  propositions.     We  do  not  forget— although  it  does  not 
affect  the  question  of  rights— that  the  seceders  from  the  Congrega- 
tional Society  embraced  almost  the  entire   church.     W^e  consider 
that  it  is  possible  you  may  have  incorporated  the  records  of  your 
own  church  with  those  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  the  same 
volume,  so  that  you  cannot  give  up  the  latter  without  the  loss  of 
the  former.     We  consent  then,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  to  relieve 
you  from  any  inconvenience  or  embarrassment,  to  relinquish  alto- 
gether our  claim  to  the  said  records  upon  either  of  the  followino- 
conditions,  viz.  :  that  you   will   furnish  us  with  a  complete  copy  ol" 
them,  giving  us  the  privilege  of  comparing  it  with  the  original ;  or, 
that  you  will  allow  us  to  take  the  original  records,  and  keep  them' 
for  such  length  of  time  as  shall  be  sufficient  for  making  a  copy  of 
them,  we  pledging  ourselves  that  they  shall   be  safely  returned  to 
your  possession  when  copied. 

'In  making  these  proposals  we  conceive  that  we  ask  nothing 
which  is  not  clearly  reasonable  and  just.  In  thus  offering  to  yield 
that  to  which  we  consider  ourselves  fully  entitled,  we  ''desire  to 
evince  the  sincerity  of  our  wish  for  harmony  and  peace.  That 
which  we  ask,  can  be,  we  are  sure,  no  loss  to  you,  though  it  will  be 
of  great  value  to  us. 

'  Wishing  you  all  spiritual  blessings  in  Christ,  we  subscribe  our- 
selves, 

Isaac  W.  Wood,  \ 

Charles  Brigham,  Jr.,  \  Committee.' 

HiLLEL  Baker,  j 


{  34  ) 


'Grafton,  Feb.   10,  1846. 

'To  Messrs.  Isaac  W.  Wood,  Charles  Brigham,  Jr.,    and 
HiLLEL  Baker. 

Gentlemen  : — 

'  Your  communication  of  Jan.  20th,  relative  to 
the  Records  of  the  Evangelical  Congregational   Church,  was  laid 
before  said  church  at  their  preparatory  lecture  on  Friday  last; 
whereupon,  after  consultation,  without  expressing  their  views  as  to 
their  right  to  the  Records,  it  was  voted  to  accede  to  your  last  pro- 
position made   in  your  communication,  and  loan  you   the  first  two 
volumes  of  the  Records,  one  at  a  time,  and  furnish  you  with  a  copy 
of  what  is  contained  in  the  third  volume  up  to  the  time  of  the  sep- 
aration of  the  church   from  the  Congregational   Society  ;  and  that 
you  have  opportunity  of  comparing  it  with  the   original   if  desired. 
At  the  same  time  we  were  chosen  a  Committee  to  communicate  to 
you  the  above  proceedings. 

'The  Records  are  with  our  Pastor  who  will  deliver  them  to   an 
authorized  agent. 

'  With  sincere  regard, 

We  are,  Gentlemen,  Yours, 

Otis  Adams,  \ 

Holland  Greenwood,  >  Committee.' 

Oliver  M.  Brigham,    ) 


We  withhold  comment  on  these  letters,  preferring  to  leave  it 
with  each  candid  reader  to  make  his  own. 

As  to  the  legality  of  our  claim  to  these  church  books  and  other 
property,  we  believe  it  is  generally  admitted  by  those  who  retain 
them  As  to  the  righteousness  of  it,  although  we  are  satisfied,  af- 
ter carefully  examining  the  grounds  upon  which  the  law  is  based, 
that  it  is  just,  still,  let  it  be  allowed  that  there  is  room  for  honest 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  justness  of  the  law,  or  the  sound- 
ness  of  its  interpretation,-yet,  we  would  ask,-may  Christians  in- 
nocently  put  at  naught,  in  a  question  of  property,  any  law  whenev- 


AlU 


( 35 ) 

er  they  feel  it  burdensoine  to  themselves?  Is  an  interested  party 
competent  tolet  aside  the  operation  of  a  statute,  whenever,  in  A/s 
oyinion,  it  fails  to  secure  to  him  his  own  rights  ? 


B.—PACH  4. 


Since  this  Sermon  was  prepared  we  have  obtained  more  definite 
information  respecting  the  first  Baptist  church  gathered  here.  From 
the  scanty  records  of  that  church  which  have  been  preserved,  and 
from  the  private  records  kept  by  one  of  its  founders,  I  learn  the 
following  facts. 

Preachers  of  the  Baptist  denomination  began  to  visit  Grafton  and 
hold  meetings  here  at  least  as  early  as    1758.     Samuel   Hovey,  of 
Mendon,  preached  here  several  times   that  year.     But   it  was    not 
till  June  17,  1767,  that  a  church  was  gathered.     At  that  time   a 
council  met,  '  consisting  of  Elder  Alden's   church  in  Bellingham, 
and  Elder  Backus's  in  Middleborough,  when  a  Baptist  church  was 
regularly  formed.'     Four  persons,  Joseph  Whipple,  Jacob  Whipple, 
Ebenezer  Wheeler  and  Robert  Leathe  [Lathe]  were  dismissed  from 
a  Baptist  church  in  Leicester  to  join  this.     Mr.  Wheeler,  and  prob- 
ably  the  others,  had  previously  been  accustomed  to  attend  worship 
at  Leicester,  twelve  or  fourteen  miles  distant.     The  number  origi- 
nally gathered  into  this  church  we  do  not  know,  but   it  must   have 
been  small,  for  it  was  some  time  before  they   were   able   to  have  a 
preacher  statedly  with  them.     In  the  year   1773.  it  was  '  voted   to 
get  Elder  Winchester  to  preach,'  which  was  accordingly  done.  But 
two  years  after  they  were  destitute,   '  having  no  under   Shepherd.' 
At  this  time,  Sept.,  1775,  there  were   '  about   twenty-eight  living 
members.'     They  had  no  regular  place  of  worship,  but  met  from 
house  to  house,  a  few  Sabbaths  at  a  place.     In  March,  1779,  it  was 
'  voted  to  get  Elder  Eustick  to  preach.'     He  remained  with  them 
more  than  three  years.     In  Oct.,  1784,  an  '  Elder  Ingalls'  was  here. 


( '^^ )  -\ 

whose  name  we  find  subscribed  to  records  as  late  as  March  19, 
1786.  As  early  as  the  spring  of  1784,  and  probably  some  years 
earlier,  they  had  a  meeting-house,  which  stood  at  the  junction  of 
the  roads  leading  from  Farnumsville  and  Saundersville  to  the  cen- 
tre of  the  town.  The  latest  entry  made  in  the  record-book  is  dated 
June  10,  1787.  The  church  probably  did  not  continue  in  exist- 
ence long  after.  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney,  of  Northboro',  when  he  wrote 
his  history  of  the  County,  in  1793,  says  there  was  neither  minis- 
ter nor  church  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  the  town,  '  and 
very  few  anabaptist  families.' 

The  present  '  First  Baptist  Church'  was  formed,  we  are  told,  in 


C— PAGE  18. 

This  anecdote  occasions  us  no  qualms  of  conscience  on  our  own 
behalf,  but  we  are  almost  surprised,  we  confess,  that  neither  Mr. 
Prentice  nor  his  parishoners  should  have  had  any  scruples  as  to  the 
propriety  of  his  act,  in  those  days  of  punctilious  sabbath-keeping. 
Had  it  been  a  question  of  a  few  rows  of  corn,  or  a  sheep  or  two, 
we  cannot  think  the  minister  would  have  turned  from  his  walk  to  the 
meeting-house.  But  the  apprehension  that  might  be  felt  for  the 
safety  of  children,  or  other  unprotected  persons  in  the  settlement, 
would  perhaps  justify  it  to  the  most  exact. 

It  seems  to  us  more  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  that 
'  Brother  Ezekiel  Cole'  should  have  '  come  before  the  church,'  as 
the  records  say  he  did,  on  the  13th  of  Feb.,  1743, '  and  acknowledged 
his  fault  for  going  a  gunning  on  the  public  thanksgiving  day  ap- 
pointed for  the  King's  deliverance  in  the  late  battle  on  the  river 
Mayne  in  Germany.' 


(  -^7  ) 

D.— PAGE  19. 

The  following  seven  churches  were  represented  in  this  council. 
The  third  church  in  Ipswich,  then  called  Ipswich  Hamlet,  now  the 
town  of  Hamilton.  Samuel  Wigglesworth,  its  pastor,  was  Modera- 
tor of  the  council.  The  First  Church  in  Mendon,  Joseph  Dorr, 
Pastor  ;  the  Second  Church  in  Mendon,  now  Milford,  Amariah 
Frost,  Pastor  ;  the  Church  in  Medford,  Ebenezer  Turell,  Pastor  ; 
the  First  Church  in  Maiden,  Joseph  Emerson,  Pastor  ;  the  First 
Church  in  Reading,  William  Hobby,  Pastor  ;  the  Third  Church 
in  Salem.  We  are  informed  that  there  was  no  church  in  Salem  de- 
signated as  the  Third  at  the  time  this  council  was  convened.  But 
that  which  afterwards  took  the  style  of  the  Third  Church  had  for 
its  Pastor,  at  that  time,  Samuel  Fisk.  It  is  that  which  is  now  call- 
ed the  Tabernacle  Church. 


E.— PAGE  21. 

Mr.  Hutchinson's  salary  was  four  hundred  Pounds,  Old  Tenor, 
*  during  his  continuing  regular  in  the  pastoral  office  in  said  Grafton.* 
These  four  hundred  Pounds  were  to  be  paid  when  the  following  com- 
modities were  marketable  at  the  following  prices, '  and  to  rise  and 
fall  in  proportion  as  the  several  necessaries  of  life  herein  mentioned 
are  generally  bought  and  sold.' 

£  s.  d. 

'Wheat       at    2 0 0  the  EuAcl.  "i 

Rye  "      1 10 0    '^        "  f 

Iiid.  Corn"     1 0 0    "        "  >  OLD  TEXOR.' 

Pork  "      0 2 0  the  Pound.  L 

Beef  "     0 1 0    "        "  1 


( '^^ ) 


F.— PAdE  23. 

Mr.  Hutchinson  not  only  united  in  himself  the  clergyman  and 
farmer,  after  the  common  custom  of  his  time,  but  combined  with  his 
clerical  and  agricultural  pursuits,  the  office  o*"  teacher.  Well  au- 
thenticated tradition  has  handed  down  to  us  the  ingenious  expedient 
by  which  he  managed  so  to  economise  time  as  to  meet  his  multifa- 
rious engagements.  His  method  was  to  teach  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  probably  other  branches,  as  he  wrought  in  the  field,  his  pupils 
being  required  to  follow  him  as  he  followed  the  plough.  His  classi- 
cal attainments  and  strong  memory  enabled  him  thus  to  cultivate 
mind  and  mould  at  the  same  time.  Both  soils,  we  doubt  not,  were 
well  tilled,  though  we  may  innocently  conjecture  that  the  master 
at  the  plough  handle  would  now  and  then  be  guilty  of  an  ungram- 
matical  apocope,  as  the  share  was  caught  with  frequent  jerks  among 
the  roots  and  rocks  of  the  rough  new  country.  None  but  an  ac- 
complished linguist,  we  are  sure,  could  under  such  circumstances, 
have  administered  Greek  to  the  student,  and  English  to  the  cattle, 
in  due  proportion  and  proper  order,  without  confusion. 

The  following  list  of  sermons  we  find  in  the  catalogue  of  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society's  Library,  preached  by  Mr.  Hutch- 
inson. It  is  hardly  probable  that  this  is  a  complete  list  of  his  pub- 
lished discourses. 

'  Valour  for  the  Truth,  a  Sermon  preached  at  Newburyport, 
Mass.,  April  27,  1767,  8vo.  Boston,  1767.' 

*  Sermon  at  Grafton,  Mass.,  Oct.  23,  1768,  8vo.  Boston,  1769.' 
(This  was  a  sermon  preached  the  Sabbath  after  the  Execution  of 
Arthur,  at  Worcester.) 

'  Two  Sermons  at  Grafton,  Nov.  15,  1772,  8vo.  Boston,  1773.' 
(His  last  sermons  to  his  congregation  in  Grafton.) 

'Sermon  at  Northbridge,  Mass.,  Nov.  29,  1772,  8vo.  Boston, 
1773.' 

*  Sermon  at  Pelham,  Mass.,  Dec.  23,  1773,  8vo.  Boston.' 
Since  this  Sermon  was  prepared  we  have  been  kindly  furnished 

with  some  additional  particulars  respecting  Mr.  H.,  by  his  only  sur- 
viving son,  Hon.  Titus  Hutchinson,  of  Woodstock,  Vt. 


(  39  ) 

Mr.  n.  was  born  in  Hebron,  Ct. ; — that  is,  within  what  was  He- 
bron at  the  time  of  his  birth.  After  lie  was  dismissed  from  his 
pastoral  charge  here,  he  supplied  pulpits  in  the  neighborhood  for 
some  time.  In  the  spring  of  1775,  he  purchased  a  farm  in  Pomfret, 
Vt.,  and  made  a  contract  to  supply  the  towns  of  Pomfret,  Wood- 
stock and  Hartford,  each  a  third  part  of  the  time  for  five  years. 
On  this  farm,  to  which  he  removed  in  1776,  he  remained  till  his 
death,  which  took  place  in  Sept.  1800,  he  having  reached  the  age 
of  seventy-six  and  a  half  years.  He  continued  to  preach  in  various 
places  while  he  lived,  often  to  destitute  parishes  without  receiving 
or  asking  any  compensation.  '  In  his  long  ministerial  life  he  was 
never  prevented  from  preaching  by  ill  health  but  two  Sabbaths,  and 
one  of  them  was  the  last  Sabbath  before  he  died.' 


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Slockton,  Calif.        j 


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